


The Queen's Dilemma

by Ailelie



Category: Fairytales
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-29
Updated: 2010-01-29
Packaged: 2017-10-06 19:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailelie/pseuds/Ailelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A king dies leaving his only child as queen of the kingdom. The new queen must balance her word against a curse and her kingdom's long-term prosperity against its short-term gain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Queen's Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sister Coyote (sister_coyote)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sister_coyote/gifts).



> Thanks to quinfirefrorefiddle, tielan, and cinaed for reading through this story for me and helping me improve it. This story is not tied to any specific fairy tale, but I hope it fits with what you'd wanted, Sister Coyote.

Once, in a great kingdom far away, an old king died. The king had only one child, Clare, a fair young woman, both in her face and her heart.

Clare loved her father greatly, having lost both her mother and brother to the sea at a young age. He and her dear, clever nurse were her only family. This love kept sweet Clare at her father’s bedside. She cooled his brow and badgered the apothecary’s assistant for explanations.

Too soon, however, her father’s time came. Before he died, the king called Clare to him one last time. He told her that she must be careful of the person she chose to marry since many people desired power for their own good and not for the kingdom's. He made her promise to only marry one who would help the kingdom and all its people prosper.

Clare promised.

For three years Clare ruled alone. Her people boasted that she was as just as her father, but her advisors murmured that she was not half as wise. Loving as she was, Clare gave gold freely to whoever had need. The treasury suffered more each year. Kind as she was, she was swayed easily by heartfelt confessions and stories. No one good suffered under her rule, but some complained, neither did anyone bad.

If only she would marry, her advisors would fret, her spouse’s mind might balance against Clare’s heart.

Clare, though, remembered her promise. She feared a ruler who would not place the kingdom before all else, who would guard the gold too greedily and judge her people too fiercely. Her fears aside, running a kingdom alone was difficult; even her father had had her mother’s aid in his youth.

Reluctantly, Clare agreed to meet with suitors. A year passed and not one suitor met her expectations; all of them were too boastful, harsh, conceited, foolish, or greedy. Clare tried to turn each away gently, but some mistook her kindness for interest and lingered. One of the suitors, a proud prince from the north, strode around the palace as if he already owned it. Several of the servants whispered that he possessed magical gifts and that he was not hesitant to use them. Another of the suitors, a princess from over the sea, demanded tinctures and elixirs daily for a full spectrum of complaints. On a visit to deliver one of these elixirs, Alis, the former assistant and now apothecary in her own right, denounced all of Clare’s potential suitors to be a most confounding kind of weed, lovely, useless, and far too persistent.

Clare agreed; and, after another month of being courted, she dismissed every suitor and asked them to leave. The suitors were all furious. The prince from the north cursed the Queen for occupying so much of their time and then denying them all.

"May no field be fruitful and no babe sleep until the Queen is married."

At the very moment, every child in the kingdom awoke and began to cry and the crops wilted in the fields. When the people heard the details of the curse, they demanded that their Queen be wed.

But Clare still remembered her promise. She would only marry one who would help the kingdom and all its people prosper. Clare borrowed from other kingdoms to keep her people fed and created a royal nursery for the tired and cranky babies so that their mothers and fathers might rest. She knew, however, that these measures would not last forever. She had to find someone to marry.

Tired and unsure, Clare called her old nurse, as dear as her own mother, to her chambers.

"Nurse," she said. "Your wisdom and magic saved me several times growing up. I pray they might help me again." She described her problem and her nurse nodded.

"I cannot undo the curse, but I can help you find a spouse."

"What must I do?" Clare asked.

"Find a thread many leagues long and allow me to bless it. Tie it to the front gate and walk down into the city. Whenever someone asks you what you are doing, tell them that you must walk until the string ends in order to end the curse on the kingdom. Whoever then cuts the thread is the one you must wed."

Clare thanked her old nurse and called for the thread.

The very next morning she tied the thread to the gate and began to walk.

First she met a shepherd bringing some of his flock into to town to sell. He was a very bold man and so had no problem asking, "My Lady, what are you doing?"

"I am walking," said Clare. "I must walk until this string ends in order to end the curse on the kingdom."

"How long is the string?" the shepherd asked.

"Very long," she replied.

"Then take some of my water," he said. "It will help you when the sun is high."

Clare thanked him and tied the skein around her waist. She walked for several more hours. She saw many people, but most did not ask her what she was doing. Near the theater plaza, Clare heard a sweet and lovely voice. Seeing no reason why she shouldn't, she turned and followed the voice. A woman dressed in bright yellows and blues was singing on a corner. The other buskers were still and listening. When the girl finished her song, Clare clapped in delight.

"I have never heard such a lovely voice," she said.

"Thank you, milady." The girl bowed low. Clare noticed her looking at her waist as she rose.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked.

"Parched," the girl said. Clare untied the water skein and handed it to the girl.

"Take this," she said. "It is the least I can give you. What are you doing here in my city?"

"Making my fortune, I hope," the girl said. "And you, what are you doing?" Clare explained her dilemma.

"I could make a good song of that," the girl said. "May I follow you until the string ends?"

"Of course," Clare said, slightly disappointed the girl had not thought to cut the string. Waking to such music each day would have been beyond treasure.

Together the two began to walk.

If no one had dared to approach the Queen before, even fewer dared now that she had such an odd companion. The sun was beginning to dip in the sky before another asked Clare why she was walking and carrying string. She explained, but the baker did not cut her string for her. He did, however, give her and the singer bread to eat. After a while, a young man followed along. He did not cut the string, but he told jokes and made the singer laugh like a bell. When he invited them both to dinner, Clare bade the singer to go without her, promising that the singer would be invited to perform at her eventual wedding.

The night was growing cold when Clare bumped into a young woman rushing forth from a warm house. Clare knew the girl well; it was Alis.

"What are you doing in the city?" Alis asked as she gathered up her basket of herbs and tools from where they had scattered.

"I have to walk until this string ends in order to end the curse on the kingdom."

Alis snorted. "That is the most foolish thing I've ever heard," she said. Then she took her scissors and snipped right through the string. "There," she said, "the string has ended. Go home, my Lady, and rest. I do not wish to attend your deathbed as well."

Clare looked in amazement at the cut string.

"Milady? Clare!"

Clare dropped the thread. "Yes?"

"Are you certain you’re well?" Alis asked; her face clouded with professional concern.  
   
"Yes," Clare said. "Yes, I am well. Come to me tomorrow and I will explain." Alis agreed and then ran off to whoever needed her.

Clare returned to her castle, exhausted, but content. Her old nurse was waiting for her.

"Did you find a king?" the nurse asked.

"Better," Clare said. "I found my Queen."

The next day, Clare met with Alis. "Marry me," she said.

Alis scoffed. "I thought you said you were well. Do you need something for a fever?"

"I am not ill." Clare explained about the string and Alis’ face grew thoughtful.

"Are you certain?" she asked.

"I know you," Clare said. "You tended my father. You rushed out into the cold night to help someone because you could. You didn't have to; you are not the only apothecary in the city. You are bold and lovely and wise. I will marry no one else."

"Then I have no choice, " Alis said, "given the curse on our kingdom." Her smile was teasing.

Happier than she had been yet since her father’s death, Clare called for her advisors and servants to start the wedding preparations. Her people would not suffer one day longer. She invited everyone who could come and extended special invitations to those who had spoken to her the day before.

And thusly were Clare and Alis wed. The fields again grew rich and children startled themselves by sleeping.

Later, as a wedding present to the Queens, the singer crafted a new and beautiful song that was sung and shared for ages after they all were gone.


End file.
